Williams reserve driver Felipe Nasr returned to the cockpit of the FW36 and looked assured on his way to the eighth fastest time as he stood in for Valtteri Bottas.

Nico Hülkenberg was ninth quickest for Force India despite not setting a time during the opening 30 minutes, while 2015 Toro Rosso driver Max Verstappen rounded out the top 10 on his second official outing for the Italian squad.

Felipe Massa headed Kimi Raikkonen, with Pastor Maldonado in 13th after a spin at Turn 6.

Adrian Sutil survived a spin on the exit of Turn 19 to finish 14th, ahead of Sergio Perez and Esteban Gutierrez.

Daniel Ricciardo sat out most of the session due to an Energy Recovery System problem while Romain Grosjean rounded out the field after suffering a few minor problems with his Lotus E22, which ran with a modified front end.